President Bola Tinubu has welcomed the growing continental recognition of Nigeria’s customs modernisation programme following the selection of a Nigerian firm for a major AfCFTA project.
Tinubu also commended the choice of AfriTrade CMP Limited, a subsidiary of Bergmans Security Consultant and Supplies Limited, for the 20-year multi-billion-dollar AfCFTA Customs Modernisation Project.
This is contained in a statement issued by Presidential Spokesperson, Mr Bayo Onanuga, on Monday in Abuja.
The project will deploy digital and physical infrastructure to improve customs processes, cargo tracking, border management and trade-data exchange across participating African countries.
Another Bergmans subsidiary, Trade Modernisation Project Limited, is implementing Nigeria’s customs modernisation programme.
Tinubu said the development validated Nigeria’s capacity to develop homegrown solutions for the wider African market.
“What has been built and tested in Nigeria is now providing a model for the continent.
“This is how African integration should work: Africans building African solutions for African opportunities.
“Nigeria must not only participate in Africa’s single market. Nigerian institutions and businesses can help build the technology and infrastructure that will make that market work.”
The president said the Federal Government would continue to create opportunities for Nigerian businesses to compete locally, across Africa and globally under its Nigeria First policy.
“I commend Bergmans, AfriTrade CMP Limited, Trade Modernisation Project Limited, the Nigeria Customs Service, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi and the Nigerian professionals whose work has earned this confidence,” he said.
The president noted that the AfCFTA Secretary-General, Mr Wamkele Mene, visited the Nigeria Customs Service headquarters in Abuja to observe the Nigerian programme in operation.
The visit was attended by members of the Senate Committee on Customs, led by Sen. Jibrin Isah, at the end of a two-day retreat on customs modernisation and reforms.
Mene described B’Odogwu, Nigeria’s indigenous Unified Customs Management System, as a model for Africa.
He disclosed that although non-African firms had offered similar services, AfCFTA opted for an African solution.
According to him, the decision underscores the importance of African excellence, innovation and self-reliance.
Isah said members of the Senate Committee had become ambassadors of the initiative after seeing the system in operation.
B’Odogwu, first piloted in October 2024, has become a key component of customs modernisation in Nigeria.
The system supports cargo tracking, data infrastructure, surveillance, risk management and non-intrusive inspection processes.
It is also being integrated with the National Single Window launched in March 2026 to provide a unified digital gateway for cross-border trade.
“The promise of AfCFTA will be realised when goods can move across African borders faster, at lower cost and with fewer barriers.
“Nigeria is ready to contribute its experience, innovation and enterprise to that future,” Tinubu added.
